Overnight, several media outlets picked up on the news that Michael Tchao has been brought back on board Apple. Tchao, of course, is one of the founding fathers of Apple's Newton personal digital assistant. If Tchao was to be useful enough to put back on the job at Apple, it would likely be to capitalize in his "genius" in order to successfully roll out a new Apple tablet.

Our friends at CNET picked up on the development late last night with word that Tchao has been reinstalled at Apple in the capacity of vice president of product marketing.

Rumors of an Apple tablet have been swirling for a couple of years, but speculation has ramped up in recent months, including reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been focusing intensely on a tablet device since returning to work in June after a liver transplant.

Prior to rejoining Apple, Tchao spent the last seven years at Nike, serving as the general manager for Nike Techlab and Nike+.

It is believed that Tchao could be exclusively assigned to the eagerly anticipated Apple Tablet, which could arrive as soon as early 2010. For now, rumors continue to paint a picture of the new Apple tablet as a 10-inch, 3G-enabled touchscreen that could best be likened to a large iPod Touch.

Apple has apparently been laying the groundwork for a tablet PC for years. The company was granted a patent in 2005 for tablet PC design, and the company was granted a patent last year for a tablet-like device that incorporated a touchscreen. Apple has also long had some of the key technologies for a tablet computer with Inkwell--a handwriting recognition feature having been in Mac OS X for some time.

Even though Tchao's baby - The Newton - launched with great fanfare only to fizzle, industry insiders report that Tchao is a brilliant individual well-suited for his new role, particularly if there is truth to his rumored involvement with the mysterious tablet. In the big picture, of course, anyone who can find a way to make Nike shoes work with an iPod is definitely creative enough to put on this project.

Really looking forward to getting one. I love my netbook laptop but really want a thinner non-clamshell multi-touch touchscreen tablet that I can use on the go without a keyboard. Typing on the screen like I do with my iphone will work just fine! This tablet is rumored to have multi-touch for keyboard input which means you can use both hands on the screen to type just like you would a real keyboard and various easy to use onscreen controls for other tasks and navigation. awesome. where past tablets have gone wrong is making you use your finger just like a mouse without additional controls on the screen (software based) for controlling things on the screen or gestures. Apple tablet is supposed to have something new like this on screen navigation and gestures for manipulating what is displayed on the screen rather than merely using your finger as a mouse like you have to on pc tablets.

Really looking forward to getting one. I love my netbook laptop but really want a thinner non-clamshell multi-touch touchscreen tablet that I can use on the go without a keyboard. Typing on the screen like I do with my iphone will work just fine! This tablet is rumored to have multi-touch for keyboard input which means you can use both hands on the screen to type just like you would a real keyboard and various easy to use onscreen controls for other tasks and navigation. awesome. where past tablets have gone wrong is making you use your finger just like a mouse without additional controls on the screen (software based) for controlling things on the screen or gestures. Apple tablet is supposed to have something new like this on screen navigation and gestures for manipulating what is displayed on the screen rather than merely using your finger as a mouse like you have to on pc tablets.

u get em buddy!!! lol Also, about the tablet.. why make an ipodtouch with 3g capabilities when you can just upscale it and sell it for 3x's the price calling it a revolutionary new computer just cuz it acts like one...

I can't wait for the new Newton. I just hope that Apple doesn't mess it up like that Microsoft Courier thing by putting USB ports on it or giving it a full OS. And I hope you get to pay for updates just like on the iPod Touch. In fact, I hope it's just a big iPod Touch with the same awesome memory management and functional limitations, I don't want to have to think too hard while I'm using it because it's obvious that I haven't thought too hard when deciding to buy it for $999.

I'll believe it when i see it. Not really that big of a deal. Only reason why i would want one is because it would be pretty cool to mess around with. I don't think that half the people that will probably get one actually need it....

Bu then again, i don't need an iPhone but i have one so, touche to myself...

no one cares of you wrote it 10 days ago, all we care about is the "knowing" as long as it gets passed around, plus im pretty sure you didnt write the first one. there are others out there that have wrote it way before you and dont boast and complain, asking for credit...

damn drug dealers, and there jailbroken iPhones... ____ Hit the thanks if you think i suck

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Complaining cause you wrote a story about it first is not getting you anywhere. I am also sure the writter doesn't fully troll the forums but is checking all apple news sites and reports what they find back here.

I think that running the iPhone OS may limit it some but it would be interesting how they change it to make it more tablet like.